489 replies to this topic

[Dodger]

I hope everybody knows it by now, but you can finally download the first two DLC packs on the XBOX 360 version of the game (400 points each). There is also another optional update for the four starter tables (free).

[lionheart88]

I hope everybody knows it by now, but you can finally download the first two DLC packs on the XBOX 360 version of the game (400 points each). There is also another optional update for the four starter tables (free).

Yea I jumped all over them as soon as they were available but it seems the online leaderboards was not yet working or implemented. I had them all on the Wednesday before the optional update would finish downloading, it kept getting stuck at 99% and failing to complete. I played all of the games and got a decent score on The Machine Bride Of Pinbot but the leaderboards would not pull up. Then on Thursday the download finally completed but leaderboards still did not work. By Friday I had achieved 2 billion+ on TMBOP, yesterday I realized the leaderboards were finally working but it had not given me credit for my 2 billion+ score, instead it was showing my 4th place score of about 1 billion 300 million. I noticed the same thing on the other 3 tables so now I've got to work on beating my current highest scores to try and get a higher ranking on the leaderboards.

Quick Reviews so far: I've never played any of these in real life btw.

The Machine Bride Of Pinbot is my favorite of the 4 new tables, if you can master a few shots you can do very well on this table but it can be the most unforgiving table if your timing is off the least little bit. I also like the fact that this tables objective and goals are simple and straight forward and no guessing as to what needs to be done. I wish there was a ball saver feature for those times the ball never even touches or gets close to your flippers and gets knocked out the side drains.

Next favorite would have to be Medieval Madness mostly because I like the theme and layout. There are a lot of different things that can be done in this table that make it exciting, lots of multiball oppourtunities make the table a little busy at times and also fast when balls are coming off those ramps. It has a clear objective with lots of side missions and so far I've not been able to achieve anything to great of a score on this table which makes me want to play it even more.

Then I suppose I would have to go with Cirqus Voltaire as my next favorite again I like the theme. This one has tons of stuff to do as well but it might take some gettting used to the default angle and the gravity in which the balls seem to have a floating affect. A lot of shots look like the ball is going to drain straight down the middle but you usually can hit it on the end of your flipper. Clear objective with plenty of multiball oppourtunities the table can get quite busy at times so thankfully there is a ballsaver feature that has helped me alot but still I have not achieved any great score on this one and have not tried changing the angle yet to see if I like anything else better than the default.

Last on my list is Funhouse, although I like the theme I just find it difficult to get anything accomplished on this table. I find that I can usually keep the ball in play for a long time but never really seem to accomplish much other than occasianally when the themepark closes and I manage to feed Rudy a ball for a million points I think it is. Maybe I just need to figure out how to make certain shots better but as of now it leaves me frustrated to play for so long and not get much accomplished and I'm also not sure what the objective or goals are. I haven't really accomplished too much of a high score on this table either.

I've not fooled with any of the angle seetings on any of the tables yet but have turned multiball camera angles off. Overall I really like all 8 of the tables that are now available on the 360 and can't wait to get the next pack.

[KloggMonkey]

I remember a rumor about the PC version, that they are waiting for Steam Greenlight to start at the end of August. Then people would have to vote for it or something like that. Seems like they must have been denied putting the game up on steam from Valve now the community has to get it there.

[settingsons]

I have played the 2 new DLCs on the XBox. IMO the CV lighting is a massive improvement and a nice touch is the tube light changes colour each time the game is loaded which results in a differing light show each time the lights go wild.

Funhouse seems to have a good feel to it physics-wise and demonstrates what can be done with the right settings.

The only issue I struggle with and this is not specific to Pinball Arcade, is I struggle to play a table in the desktop view having got used to playing cabinet tables in a VP Cab. Although the PC version is sure to have a cabinet mode, they should add it to the consoles as well as this would enable people to build a 'budget' cabinet using a console.

All in all this is a great product and they seem very responsive to user requests - I hope they can go on making tables for a few years to come, and then open up the editor to everyone.

Edited by settingsons, 06 August 2012 - 05:46 PM.

[rob046]

I have played the 2 new DLCs on the XBox. IMO the CV lighting is a massive improvement and a nice touch is the tube light changes colour each time the game is loaded which results in a differing light show each time the lights go wild.

Funhouse seems to have a good feel to it physics-wise and demonstrates what can be done with the right settings.

The only issue I struggle with and this is not specific to Pinball Arcade, is I struggle to play a table in the desktop view having got used to playing cabinet tables in a VP Cab. Although the PC version is sure to have a cabinet mode, they should add it to the consoles as well as this would enable people to build a 'budget' cabinet using a console.

All in all this is a great product and they seem very responsive to user requests - I hope they can go on making tables for a few years to come, and then open up the editor to everyone.

Funhouse was the first table to have better physics. & the 4 tables since then also have these improved physics. Though FH is actually the bottom of that list for me cuz it seems a bit too slow. So as I've been saying I think ppl will really like the new DLC when it comes out for consoles.
If they add cabinet mode to PC, why add it to consoles? Besides, how many ppl with consoles even have HDTV's that can rotate? Very few, only those that might be playing on a rotating monitor.
The editor will never be available to everybody, for obvious legal reasons.

[settingsons]

I have played the 2 new DLCs on the XBox. IMO the CV lighting is a massive improvement and a nice touch is the tube light changes colour each time the game is loaded which results in a differing light show each time the lights go wild.

Funhouse seems to have a good feel to it physics-wise and demonstrates what can be done with the right settings.

The only issue I struggle with and this is not specific to Pinball Arcade, is I struggle to play a table in the desktop view having got used to playing cabinet tables in a VP Cab. Although the PC version is sure to have a cabinet mode, they should add it to the consoles as well as this would enable people to build a 'budget' cabinet using a console.

All in all this is a great product and they seem very responsive to user requests - I hope they can go on making tables for a few years to come, and then open up the editor to everyone.

Funhouse was the first table to have better physics. & the 4 tables since then also have these improved physics. Though FH is actually the bottom of that list for me cuz it seems a bit too slow. So as I've been saying I think ppl will really like the new DLC when it comes out for consoles.
If they add cabinet mode to PC, why add it to consoles? Besides, how many ppl with consoles even have HDTV's that can rotate? Very few, only those that might be playing on a rotating monitor.
The editor will never be available to everybody, for obvious legal reasons.

Thats good to know the later tables have better physics too - I will definitely get them on the XBox when they get released. I guess you tried them on the IPad 3 - out of interest do you play the table in portrait mode on there or landscape?

Actually with regards to have a cabinet mode on the XBox - a couple of threads popped up over at PinballArcadeFans and the XBox Lead programmer said he was thinking about it. Like you say most console people use a TV so won't be able to rotate the monitor, however by adding it as an option some might give it a go and then decide to invest in a dedicated screen for pinball even if it is a small 24/28" screen. I agree it would have to a die-hard pinball fan to do that, so the Farsight management might not approve it.

Here is the thread (Post #6 is the programmer - he even debates multi-monitor later on in thread):
http://pinballarcade...1-Portrait-Mode


The editor was also discussed at some stage and they said they wouldn't rule it out - They would obviously need to protect themselves from being associated with any tables built by home users. It probably won't happen but you never know.


Something else I found surprising reading on PinballArcadeFans a few months ago although I cannot find the link now was this.... Someone was saying how good the Pro-Pinball physics were 15+ years ago, and the programmer (Mike from the thread above) said he had never seen Pro-Pinball. It made you want to shout 'well check it out then!'. You would have thought that they would check out the competition - maybe they did because there is an improvement from the first table I played some months ago. With the likelyhood that Pro-Pinball will re-surface soon, and Dream Pinball 3D is coming out hopefully each will try to better the other which can only mean good things.

Edited by settingsons, 06 August 2012 - 08:49 PM.

[rob046]

Yes I play on iPad3. I play in portrait of course, since it fits more of the table into the screen. But it isn't really like VP FS, as the views are much more angled, plus there is some scrolling I enable that actually works well. This game & almost any pinball game supporting retina is just amazing on iPad3. & iPad in general has amazingly smooth ball movement, just perfect. Add to that playing the tables at a 2048x resolution, it is quite impressive.

Yes they would have to take care of a number of legal things to be able to release an editor. What I should of said is that if they did release it, which I doubt but maybe. & I'm sure it would be closed source. That would certainly be better than nothing.
Just had a thought. How cool would it be to play a table I made on my own iPad! I've really grown to like & even prefer playing pinball on iPad3.

Dream Pinball 3D has been out for years, right? Unless that is being re-done. Give me whatever info you have on that. I do know it was recently released on iPad but I haven't tried it cuz I heard it wasn't that good & I didn't feel like blowing a few bucks.

The programmer? I assume they have more than 1 programmer. It is surprising that somebody could write a pinball sim without knowing about or playing the best pinball simulator the world has ever seen. & it isn't like PP was unpopular. It sold a ton of units.
This, among other things, does make me wonder if TPA is really tapping out the potential of their engine, or if just sub-par programming is to blame. I would hope for the later, because if the engine is capable of much better, then that is awfully excited as long as they eventually hit that potential.
& if having a programmer who might not be that into pinball is an issue, then they really need to consult with people like myself, or many of us, who could provide tons of info & feedback on pinball physics. I'd love nothing more than to be allowed to tweak things in that editor!
But like I said, things do feel a lot better in the newest 2 DLC packs. Still room for a little improvement though.

Certainly they could do portrait mode for consoles, but considering all else that is on their plate, & how few people this setting would impact... I would just think they wouldn't find adding this feature being worth their time & energy. If I were you I'd tell them to forget that & put the focus on portrait just for the PC. They still need to finish the PC version.

[Dodger]

I'm pretty sure that they are working on a cabinet mode on the PC version and that is the reason why it is so delayed. They did the 360 version first and if you do that you don't need to rewrite the whole code for a PC port. Only a few tweaks here and there.

Or you add something completely new

[jrolson]

How would a full top-down cabinet view work for widebody tables? How would they fit the screen?

Wouldnt widebody tables be cut off or squeezed? If they are squeezed to fit the TV the table will look distorted...

[Brianvgplayer]

http://pinballarcade...by-King-Answers Question 5 has me disappointed. I was hoping the early SS games would get emulated.

5.) What is the status of older SS emulation? Will current tables such as Black Hole and Gorgar be updated with full emulation?

It’s my understanding that older SS emulations can be problematic due to timing issues with the emulated chipset when you consider all of the devices (hardware) that we run our game on. This is still to be determined.